


falling short

by whitewolfreed



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: fernangst is what i live for, mentions of alm, spoilers for act 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 13:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11082528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitewolfreed/pseuds/whitewolfreed
Summary: Fate is especially unkind to those who want.





	falling short

Fresh waves of agony rip through his body with each torturous step he takes through the halls of Duma Temple. One gloved hand is pressed against his stomach; the acrid scent of burnt flesh and melted metal hurts his nostrils. The Deliverance had to be making their way through the temple right now - if he kept walking, surely he'd find them.

Having to drag himself through the corridors like one of those blasted Terrors gave him time to reflect on a lot of things. That boy Alm, who he'd thought a commoner until recently, was in truth Emperor Rudolf's son and the true heir to the Rigelian throne. Lord Berkut was never going to become emperor, completely unaware of his cousin's existence and led on to believe he was the only successor. If only he'd known that back then… perhaps he might have never left the Deliverance. Alm only grew stronger, more like the ruler he never knew he was meant to be as the war progressed. Had Sir Mycen raised Rudolf's child knowing that one day he would become the hero in the prophecy?

His train of thought is abruptly cut off as he trips and crashes to the stone floor, the impact causing him to cry out. He feels his wounds reopen and bleed anew, his vision filling with black spots. _No! I can't die here yet… I still need to…_ The hand that was pressed to his abdomen comes away bloody, and it scrabbles uselessly, lacking the strength to continue supporting its owner. He's going to die here alone without being able to even say goodbye properly. Truly, fate is cruel to him, for it takes and takes and takes from him and gives back nothing in return.

Everything hurts. It won't be much longer before he finally sees his family again… There's still one thing he can do, one thing he can leave behind for when Alm and the rest find his body. With this in mind, he lifts an arm to start writing something on the floor, using his own blood. He doesn't know if he even wrote it correctly - his vision is starting to darken and his hand stopped moving without him realizing.

_Clive… Mathilda… I always…_

\---

Fernand's body is found in one of Duma Temple's many corridors, the words "I'm sorry" written in his blood on the floor.

**Author's Note:**

> was discussing lots of fernand angst on a discord server and i felt the strong need to expand the bit about fernand not even reaching alm and co before kicking the bucket
> 
> anyway uh i still personally feel my writing is. not that great but i wanted to post it so everyone else can be sad about fernie
> 
> enjoy the implied clive/mathilda/fernand that didn't happen


End file.
